An Encouragement

As we mentioned earlier we've had a few troubles since arriving here in Southampton. However we've also had some really amazing and encouraging things happen too. Just to lighten your day we thought we'd tell you a little about it to show you how we think God's been watching over us here on the other side of the world.

1. We were searching for somewhere to live with very little time to spare before we were due to start work. As a consequnce we accepted to rent a one bedroom flat after seeing it just once and not really working out the terms with the agent. They told us we were paying for a fully furnished house. What we got was a barely furnished, decaying flat in the red light district of Southampton. The area is infamous and everyone gasps when they hear we're living here. Well we do have a bed, a fridge and an old couch. And the hot water works and the heating is almost too good. Our first angel-like encounter was Anne from work who has lent us all we need for a home for as long as we need it.
2. Then the car. Obviously when we bought it we checked all that we could as non-mechanics, even taking it for a good long test drive. It really did look great. No rust and everything functioning well inside the car. We drove around London a bit and then down to Mum's cousin in the country with no problems. Then some lights came on on the dashboard. The ABS light and the Park Brake light (although the park brake was off). We thought we'd get it checked out at the next garage we passed. It was 2pm so we pulled over for a late lunch, parking behind a man who was fixing his car. He pointed to the road and then said we were leaking something . Could he have a look under the bonnet? Well apparently we had been driving with practically no brake fluid left in the car anywhere and you could see the last drops running into the gutter. This man happened to be a mobile mechanic and offered to fix the brakes for a fraction of the cost that a garage would charge. His name is Gary and he's originally from Jamaica. Enter: angel No.2. Last night Gary came by for a cup of tea and chatted with us for 3 hours!! He's fixed the brake lines and the abs sensor and the suspension that became ULTRA noisy just when the brakes went. He's a friendly face in a not so friendly neighbourhood.
3. We've also found a really great church here and have been invited out a few times with a phd student David who has been so kind in introducing us to people and the city. Angel No.3. He sat next to us on our first night visiting the church and then invited us to his house for dinner that week.

So even though things haven't been running altogether smoothly we've still had someone helping us out through all the issues.